Brady Beamon slammed his right hand on a brown Bakersfield mat, walked to its center, unstrapped his red anklets, shook his opponent’s hand, and then turned back to Spring Valley, the start of a long offseason for the Steele Canyon High wrestler.

One takedown.

It would have swayed his 2-1 losses last March at the CIF State Boys Wrestling Championships.

Nine months removed from that two-match exit at his first state appearance, Beamon is off to a furious start in his senior season with 14 pins — 12 in the first period — in 14 matches. The dominance continued at Otay Ranch High last weekend for the defending San Diego Section and masters champion, notching a 45-second pin in the title match at the El Cajon Invitational.

Beamon, 17, has watched that Bakersfield tape again and again.

“Neutral position on my feet,” said Beamon, who wrestles at 160 pounds, up 20 from last year following a growth spurt. “Couldn’t get a takedown.”

The pinner’s strides have been both technical and mental.

A wrestler beginning in the second grade, the personable Beamon started to repolish his style in the spring with a couple new voices in his corner.

Justin Gigliotti, an assistant coach at Steele Canyon and former West Hills coach and Cal State Bakersfield wrestler, happily comes to every practice but rarely looks the part.

He stresses the importance of “working the head” on the feet and flipping the nice-guy switch on the mat to wrestle mean with aggression.

“Brady always has a big Kool-Aid smile on his face,” Gigliotti said.

“He asks me, ‘Coach, why don’t you ever walk in here with a smile?’ I say, ‘Because I need to pick up the intensity for you’ … He could have won those matches (at state), but those other guys were a little bit tougher than he was last year. Now, it’s a completely different year for him, and he’s just dominating so far and pinning everyone he’s wrestled. He’s very coachable and willing to make adjustments.”

Every week, arguably the best high school wrestler in San Diego history also wrestles Beamon.

Mark Gerardi, whose titles from 1985-87 make him the section’s only three-time state champion, stresses aggression out of the neutral position, showing Beamon different shots he can incorporate into his game.

“Part of improving is who your workout partners are and how much they push you,” Kida said. “Those two guys (Gerardi and Gigliotti) are college-level wrestlers. It’s going to push him to wrestle that kind of caliber … You’re not going to get a cheap takedown against them. They’re both great on their feet, so you have to do something pretty spectacular to take them down.”

Beamon, considering Cal Baptist as a college choice, wants to become the first boys wrestling state placer in school history.

Meanwhile, he is chasing the family record for most pins in a single season, set at 31 by Hunter, his older brother who attended Monte Vista.

Beamon’s progress will be measured next month of the Temecula Valley Invitational, which attracts some of the finest wrestlers — and future state qualifiers — in California.

To defeat them, he knows what to do.

“You have to get a takedown,” Beamon said. “After last year, you realize you really have to get a takedown or else you’re starting off a match equal going in. Coach Justin (always says), ‘Don’t wrestle nice. These guys should be scared of you.’”